March 29, 2024

Blue Bell Builds Inventory for Return After Listeria Outbreak

Blue Bell Creameries is building inventory for a return to retail sales after a deadly Listeria outbreak  forced a temporary shutdown.  In a Facebook post, the company told customers to “stay tuned in the coming weeks for details of our return.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said several strains of Listeria were involved in the outbreak tied to the nation’s third-largest ice cream maker. At least 10 people were sickened, three people died.

Via Christi Hospital Listeria CasesCultures of Listeria strains from patients were identical to those found in ice cream made at the company’s plants in Brenham, Texas and Broken Arrow, Okla. The earliest cases were identified in 2010.

After the ice cream was linked to the outbreak, Blue Bell began a series of product recalls, eventually recalling all of its products on April 20 and halting production at all of its locations.

The five-year span of the outbreak uncovered a longstanding Listeria problem at all of Blue Bell’s plants. On May 7th,  the  U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released reports that showed the company was aware of Listeria in its plants in 2013 but did not test the bacteria to discover if it was pathogenic or take measures to eradicate the  problem.

Also in in May, a lawsuit stemming from the Listeria outbreak linked to Blue Bell ice cream was filed. The suit was filed on behalf of a 33-year-old Maryland man who developed Listeria meningitis that left him with severe neurological impairment.

Production of ice cream has resumed only at the company’s plant on Sylacauga, Ala. There is no word on when production at the other sites may begin.

 

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